Graham Munslow, clinical screening and immunisation manager for the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, has called for all parents to get their children protected against the disease.

He said: “If we increase immunisation in younger children, we are indirectly protecting the rest of the population. So the emphasis is to increase the uptake in children who are offered it by their GP or at school.”

Children are thought to be most at risk from Japanese flu (Image: Getty)

Protection against both the Aussie strain and Yamagata, which was first identified in Japan, are included in the flu jab offered free to all two and three-year-olds by GPs and by schools for children from reception to year four.

This is set to be extended to older schoolchildren aged up to 18 in future years.

Unlike the Aussie flu, protection against Yamagata is not included in all the vaccines for over-65s or vulnerable patients, such as those with diabetes or respiratory disease.

Yamagata is a group ‘B’ strain of flu. Complications are less common and most people will recover within a week.

This means it’s less serious than Aussie strain, which is a category ‘A’.